THY TESTIMONY: Amy & Melissa

This past school year I kept Melissa, my youngest daughter (5th grade), home with me and her little brother for school. The previous school year was very difficult for her. She started to grow, but as sometimes occurs with children, she started to grow sideways in preparation for growing upwards. It seemed to be taking place at an alarming rate though. I have to admit I was a little concerned. I did not want to discuss it at the doctor’s office, which would naturally lead to conversations about her weight that would be hurtful. Melissa was being teased at school on a regular basis.

So, I had other reasons for wanting to keep her home this year, which is what I focused on, and kept my concern for her growth limited to a few conversations about food choices, the risk of diabetes, etc. I also felt that the school lunches she was eating were not helpful in that department either. If my plan worked, we would get multiple birds with one stone!

When I read about the new THM curriculum, Trim Healthy You, it seemed the perfect time and the perfect fit for our situation.

Since Melissa knew that I was a THM for quite a few years, it wasn’t a stretch to pull this in with the rest of our schoolwork and activities. When she received her new books, especially the exercise cards, she just dove right in. Every day she was running up and down the stairs and going outside to complete some of the other exercises. She started making some of the recipe cards herself and with my help on the dinner side of things, she lost 15 pounds over the course of three months! Melissa really didn’t believe that she had changed much though even after seeing the numbers on the scale. That’s when I snapped this picture to show her that she indeed looked trimmer and healthier. I felt that she had accomplished more than enough without having to worry about the numbers and that nature would take care of the rest. She currently has the leg growing pains, so that height is coming! I took great pains to avoid having conversations about her weight. It just was something we enjoyed doing together. I believe that setting this example as a mother is key to being able to help our families enjoy the benefits of the Trim Healthy way of life.

As to my own story… I will be honest and say, I am not always 100% on-plan. Over the past 6 years, I’ve spent months really trying and others only minimally putting in effort. In the end, even though it took more time than I would like, I have lost 65 pounds since my sixth and last baby. I am now 44 and even though weight loss is slower at this age, I am healthier than ever by living the trim healthy way.

My daughter is now in maintenance mode and has kept off the pounds she lost. She knows about how to keep her body healthy and how to make good food choices. Thankfully, she is not living with a constant concern for her weight! I’ve worked so hard to make choices concerning what is in the cupboard, what we have for snacks, and that what I serve for dinner Trim Healthy approved… without it being a legalistic diet to follow. We still have custard at Culver’s on occasion and eat the cake offered at birthday parties, but these are the exceptions, not the rule.

If it’s going to work, it has to be a way of life change and not a diet, which is so regularly reinforced throughout all of the Trim Healthy Mama books. I can testify that it works!

– Amy and Melissa R.